Community Service Worker: An Inconvenient Truth

Making a difference in the world as a community service worker. Such a massive concept for such a small living, breathing piece of stardust, floating haphazardly throughout life without a single clue of what it all means. If you’ve ever thought about joining the ranks of the other stand-up citizens who are fighting for worthy causes, chances are you’ve been discouraged at one point or another. ‘One person can’t change the world’, ‘What do you think you’re going to achieve?’, ‘Do you really believe you’re going to make a difference?’ These are common phrases and questions that we poor go-getters are confronted with on a regular basis. In the media ecosystems of today, our savvy generation has coined these people who challenge our beliefs as ‘haters’. Or, in some cases ‘h8rs’.

Sure, we can claim these ‘haters’ are just crushing our dreams, while simultaneously ‘killing our vibe’, but I have a sneaking suspicion what annoys us most about our haters is that deep down, we know there’s a sliver of truth in what they’re saying.

Now, before you go AWOL on me and become one of MY haters, just hear me out…How can one community service worker possibly change the world? The inconvenient truth is: they can’t. One community service worker cannot change the world.

After that dose of crushing pessimism, you may be wondering, ‘How then, is it possible for a anyone to make an impact?’

The answer to that question lies in the power of social influence. Research suggests that if people are continuously influenced to change their behaviours, they often justify these behaviours as the new norm. This acceptance of new behaviours often results in a complete change of attitude. [1]

So, it seems that in order to bring about change in the world, we community service workers need to simply become better role models and we need to start leading by example in order to influence the behaviours (and eventually the attitudes) of others. Once one of us starts to do this, it creates a domino effect of kindness that has the potential to sweep across the world.

When we look at the concept of a community service worker changing the world through this lens, the power of one begins to appear incredibly formidable.

Before I go all Mother Theresa on you, I’ll let you in on a little secret: becoming a community services worker isn’t completely altruistic because it makes YOU feel good too!

In 2015, Stanford University psychologist Sonja Lyubomirsky decided to test the kindness-fulfillment connection, otherwise known as the ‘Scrooge Effect’. She asked one group of students to carry out five weekly random acts of kindness of their choice, and unsurprisingly, these students reported higher levels of happiness than the control group. Other studies have proven that altruistic people tend to be happy, but this was the first study that established a direct link between good deeds as a direct source cause of increased well-being. [2]

Now, picture this…

Doing good deeds for others and getting paid for it! Seems too good to be true, doesn’t it?

The fact of the matter is, as a community service worker, you have the opportunity to make a direct impact on your community and those within it. Whether you’re interested in humanitarian work, or if environmentalism is more your jam, the scope of what’s available under the umbrella of community services is vast.

The way I see it, community service worker is one of the coolest jobs out there. You get to go home at the end of each work day feeling good about what you’ve done for others within your community, and that’s more than a lot of people can say.

If you’ve ever thought about becoming a community service worker, now is your time to stand beside those who have devoted their lives to helping others. Deflect the negative comments from your haters and lead a generation in standing up for a cause worth fighting for. Besides, when all of us pieces of stardust bind together for the greater good, we have the potential to explode into a giant supernova that shines new light onto the world.

If you’re interested in changing lives and making an impact on the world as a community service worker, the Diploma of Community Services at HETC will help you get one step closer to your dream career! Check out the link below for more details about our Diploma of Community Services, and start giving back to your community today!

Make a difference today by studying a Diploma of Community Services CHC52015 at HETC